The Sea House in Napili has an awesome Happy Hour. Get there early. Great calamari!!!!!!!!! http://seahousemaui.com/

Hopefully you will post a review on TA and Yelp. Helps everyone. Thx

Pacific'o v. Mama's
 

I've been bemused by all the enthusiasm for Mama's, not just on Flyer Talk. We've gone several times with guests who selected it as an "occasion" dinner, and don't understand the excitement, but our guests were pleased, and they did make a nice big deal of son's first anniversary.

Anyone willing to spend that money and looking for an occasion dinner -- try Pacific'o. It faces west, unlike Mama's, so there are awesome sunsets. Much more intimate feeling than Mama's. There are some tables right on the beach, and the rest are on a veranda raised 8 feet from the beach.

But it's the food that sets Pacific'o way above Mama's. Far more inventive and exciting. As much local as they can grow themselves or source, and you can taste it in the greens and other vegetables. Great drinks, reasonable wine list (knowledgeable staff), desserts good but not the focus.

We had fish (seared ahi and an interesting plate of tempura-battered sushi with ahi, hamachi and maguro roe), but I heard someone at the next table marveling over their spring lamb with the maitre d'.

We shared a starter and salad. Two entrees, two desserts, coffee, good bottle of wine and after-dinner drinks: $220. Additional starter and salad would have added about $30. I felt ripped off at Mama's, but not here. (Leftovers for lunch!)

Consolidated "Maui Restaurants" Thread
 

Joe's Bar and Grill in Wailea has closed
Being remodeled into a "Latin Themed " restaurant

Also Paia FishMarket had opened a second location in Kihei, across from Kalama park
In the Shack location ( old Alexander's and recently maui tacos locations)

We ate a Mama's a few years ago and was not overwhelmed. Food was good but over-priced IMO.
But Yelp & TripAdvisor readers don't agree with you. They both have a number of fine dining rest. (Lahaina Grill, Mama's, Merriman's, etc) rated higher than Pacific'O. But I appreciate your review and will try it on my next trip. Mahalo.

Best breakfast on Maui, hands down...we've been 4 times, 2 weeks at a time, and the Gazebo is always our favorite. The pancakes and fried rice are the MUST haves!
Awesome place on our favorite beach on Maui........great for food anytime. We even had their "Na Hoku" dinner a few years ago for our 5 year anniversary! Very $$$ but private chef, private dining on the cliff.........so worth it.


For people wanting other places on Maui, we've eaten at a lot, but here are some others you might not know about.

Da Kitchen........think of Aloha Mixed Plate but where the locals actually go...two locations.

Monkeypod.......good food, good service, in the Kihei area

Hula Grill.........good at happy hour and the barefoot bar

Kimo's..........awesome service, awesome food, original Hula pie....must try!

Longhi's Steakhouse.....best view in Lahaina....awesome steak and seafood and service, we make it a must visit every year too

Cool Cats.....best burger in Maui like 10 years running......VERY good

Fleetwoods.....food is pretty good, go on a Tuesday/Wednesday and you'll probably see Mick Fleetwood....we went on a Wednesday and he was there, came over to our table and said hello

Merrimans....went here the night our friends got married. The service was spectacular, the food was great, loved it too.

The big negative, IMHO, to Longhi's in Lahaina is that it sits mauka and on a very busy corner, Front St. and Papalaua St. Yes, you can see the ocean across the street but watch out for the exhaust fumes & noise from the cars/buses. :)

Surprised not to see any recommendations for Star Noodle. IMHO, the most interesting restaurant in Lahaina, and quite reasonably priced by Maui standards.

Not a place for a celebratory dinner, as it's a small place and very busy, but a real place foodies can appreciate. it's up on the hill away from the center of town and the shoreline, but worth the trip if you've got a car.

I thought Star Noodle was ok, but not amazing. I don't regret going, but I also don't think I'll go back next time we're on the island.

Consolidated "Maui Restaurants" Thread
 

Star Noodle is great
Filipino Bacon and eggs
Yum
Pork buns great too
The specials are usually great too.

Consolidated "Maui Restaurants" Thread
 

MiGrant at the Wailea Marriott is great
Chef is Sheldon Simeon of Top Chef and Star Noodle fame
Street corn, hangar steak Brussels Sprouts were all so good

While I agree that the food wasn't bad, we had HORRIBLE service here. Our waiter was rude, arrogant, and quite frankly I believe he was making fun of us to the other staff (not sure why) as we saw him pointing at us and laughing. We did file a complaint with the manager after the fact. With the exception of Duke's, we've had awesome service at every other place we've ever eaten on Maui...special shoutout to Longhi's, Kimo's, and Humuhumu's...even had great service at the McDonald's (Gotta get some Haupia, Taro, or Banana pie!!)! LOL

Here are my Wailea-area tips, along with a couple others:

-Best restaurant: Ka'ana Kitchen at the Andaz. Fantastic Hawaiian-inspired cuisine, great drinks, fantastic view of the sunset, and great service. Forget the big-name Morimoto spot in the hotel - this is the place to be.

-We only ate at Ferraro's at the Four Seasons, but it was pretty solid overall - lots of local ingredients used, and pasta made on premises. Not going to blow you away compared to Italian in NYC, for example, but a solid rendition of it. Best sunset view out of any of the spots on the coast here.

-The Fairmont has a couple restaurants as well; I actually preferred Nicky's quality over Ko, which I thought tried a bit too hard. Both are very good overall, but Nicky's has the better entrees, as well as flambeed strawberries as well - what's not to like?

-Mama's Fishhouse - poor ventilation made me downrate this a bit; in mid-80 degree weather, it was a nightmare sitting inside. The crusted mahi-mahi is delicious as advertised, but the service was mediocre, and it felt very tourist trap-like. That said, after I wrote a poor review on Yelp (3 stars), they refunded my entire dinner - completely unnecessary but a very kind gesture, and next time I'm on the island I will give them another chance for sure.

ETA: If you like farm-to-table, you have to go to O'o Farms in upcountry. What an experience! Great views looking down onto central Maui, a nice tiny little farm where you pick the veggies you eat for lunch. It's BYO, and they also have a small coffee operation on the premises.

I can't speak to the table service at Star Noodle - I sat at the bar, because the place was mobbed, and got outstanding service, and I wasn't even drinking.

We sat at a table, and while I didn't mention it in my original post, our service wasn't great. Not horrible, far from the worst I've had in my life, but probably the worst we had on that trip to Maui. I got a bit of a "you're not cool enough to be here" vibe from the staff, and had a heck of a time getting them to come take our order, refill water, etc.